The Edge of Winter's Night
by Suki-Itami
Summary: Hatori and Yukino were friends in High School until she had to leave due to "family" reasons. For seven years, she disappeared from his life, only reappearing again as his medical assistant. But she could also be the one to save him from eternal winter.
1. Parting and Reunion

I hummed softly as I walked down the street, only a half-block away from the High School I attended. It was snowing lightly, so I was in a good mood. I believe that snow always makes things better, though most of my friends would full heartedly disagree with me. But, the few goods things that happened in my life, happened when it was snowing.

They just didn't get it though because I had never explained my situation. I'm a foster child, so I'm always moving from place to place. Every time something seems permanent and final, I always get moved. I hate living like this, but, as the fates would have it, my biological parents have been hunting me down. (They even went as far as to check all the High School databases in Japan to find me.)

Needless to say, my parents are insane. I don't have many memories of them – I pushed them all away – but what I do remember is all because of the scars left on my arms, legs, and stomach. My parents has managed to escape before the police could catch them, leaving me for dead at the mere age of six.

I walked into the High School and over to my locker. I put away one of the many books I bring to school to read during class. Unfortunately, I was one of the smarter students and I got things done really fast.

"Ai!" I turned around at the voice just in time to get tackle-glomped by my best friend. "How've you been?"

I growled and pushed her off of me. "You're a pain, Shiori!"

Shiori put on a face of feigned pain. "You're so mean to me!"

I sighed and closed my locker after standing up. "You know, you shouldn't do that! One day, you're going to cause me to kill myself against these damn lockers!"

Shiori just laughed. I growled again.

Another voice behind me sighed. "Shiori, you know how uncoordinated Ai is."

I turned around and blushed lightly, as I always did in his presence. "Hey Hatori."

Hatori nodded once. "Ai."

I stared at him. Hatori was always so cool, collected, mysterious, and just all around handsome. His face always seemed fixated on something, like he was always aiming for something bigger than, well, what he was. (Guess we have that in common, probably why we're such good friends.) But, I couldn't help but to notice him like just about every other girl did. His short black hair and those icy blue eyes added even more to the mysterious air surrounding him. Not to mention that he seemed to always be hiding something – him and his cousins…who are strangely nowhere to be found.

"Um, where're Shigure and Ayame?" I asked, looking around. They both had a tendency to sneak up on me and Shiori when we aren't looking – it always scares the living shit outta me too.

Suddenly, a boy with short brown hair jumped out of literally nowhere and glomped Hatori from behind. "Hi there, girls!" He said happily – sometimes, I think it's a little **too** happily.

"Hey Shigure!" Shiori says to him with almost the same enthusiasm. She's had a crush on Shigure ever since I've been here; it's kind of scary.

Hatori looked at Shigure and said calmly, "Where's Ayame?"

"He's…sick today." Shigure said hesitantly.

I growled again, Ayame **always** did this! "THAT BASTARD SKIPPED **AGAIN**?! IT'S THE FIRST DAY OF EXAMS, AND HE SKIPPED!!!"

Hatori sighed. He didn't like my easy-to-be-angered attitude, but I can't help it. Around Ayame and Shigure, it's hard not to get angry easily.

"Kusanagi!" A teacher walked over, it sounded almost as if he was scolding me again.

I sighed; I almost forgot the teachers here don't like loud noises in the hall. "Sorry, Sensei, it won't happen again." Though that was a complete lie, I'd probably be yelling again tomorrow.

"No, it's not that." I was confused, normally a teacher would only get my attention if it was to quiet me. He handed me an envelope.

I turned the envelope over and saw my name written in a formal script that I had come to fear. I stared at the name written on the envelope. It said _Yukino Nakamura_, my real name. I breathed hard as my heart rate sped up. I couldn't believe this, I had been here under a false name – Ai Kusanagi – for nearly two years, and now I'm going to leave.

I started shaking and crumpled the envelope – with a letter that explained why I'm being moved again, though I knew my parents somehow found me, inside – and threw it into the nearest trashcan.

"Kusanagi, you need to read that!" The teacher scolded.

I glared at him; tears streaked my face. "No! I'm so sick of this, I don't care anymore!" I turned back to my three friends, who were all confused.

I looked directly at Hatori, and almost as if he could read my mind, he coldly asked, "Who are you, really?"

"Hatori!" Shiori smacked him upside the head. "What're you saying?!"

I bit my bottom lip for a moment before saying, "I am Yukino Nakamura. I am a foster child who's been living under the false name Ai Kusanagi."

"W-What?" Shiori and Shigure stared at me in shock. On the other hand, Hatori seemed unaffected, as if he'd expected as much.

I rolled up the sleeves of my shirt to show three pale scars running up my arms from my wrists up to my elbows. "My parents are not Ritsuka and Masami Kusanagi. In fact, I don't even know my real parents. But they left these scars, and they're hunting me."

Hatori started glaring at me now, and for some reason, I felt like I'd just been slapped across the face. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"I was told to not say anything, to not trust anyone."

"You could've trusted us." Shigure said almost a bit forcefully.

"Then you and Hatori stop being such hypocrites and tell us what **you're** hiding!" I snapped. I hadn't meant to, but it just kinda happened.

"How come Sensei knows?" Shiori asked in a much milder tone.

"The teachers in the school know so that they can protect me on the off chance my parents find me and come here." I turned back to my locker and pulled everything out. "Seeing as I'm not welcome here by you guys anymore, I guess I'll go."

I turned and followed the teacher to the office. "Goodbye, my friends."

…

7 years later…

I softly hummed as I walked up to my new place of work, the cold wind blowing my white jacket around me. I had just graduated College, but barely.

Lately, my mind's been going back to the day seven years ago whenever I left the place I returned to for my practice.

I went to College to become a doctor's assistant. Oddly enough, I ended up being the assistant to a family doctor. Apparently, this guy has a large family, but not enough time to look after the entirety of them. I hadn't been told who it was, but I couldn't help feeling some odd sense of familiarity as I walked up to a large estate.

I stopped in front of a large closed gate. I looked back down the row of houses that I had walked passed just a moment ago. It wasn't like I was seeing if someone would suddenly walk up and show me how to open the door, but I've become slightly more paranoid now that I've had one more brush with death recently than I wanted.

"Who are you?"

I jumped and looked back to see a young blonde haired boy sitting on top of the gate wearing something that seemed right out of a candy commercial – all bright and colorful.

I struggled for words as my face turned bright red from getting startled so easily. "Um, I'm Yukino Nakamura. I was sent from Tokyo University to help with a family doctor at this address."

The boy smiled and jumped down from the gate, opening it. "It's a good thing you came, Hari's been having a hard time lately keeping up with everyone."

"Hari?" The guy I'm being an assistant to has a strange, strange name.

"Yeah!" The boy stopped in front of a house. "Here's Hari's house! I'm Momiji, by the way!"

I smiled a little at the bright and bubbly boy. "It's good to meet you, Momiji."

"Hope we can hang out sometime, if you're not too busy helping out Hari."

"Me too." I glanced around Momiji. "Could I meet, um, Hari?"

Momiji continued smiling as he turned around to open the door, except that someone opened it before him. "Oh, hi, Hari!"

_No way!_ I felt my mouth drop to the ground, I made no move to push my dark brown hair out of my face as the wind blew by, I was frozen to the spot. Aside from a large portion of his hair growing over his left eye, he still looked like the same boy I was friends with in High School.

"Momiji, I told you not to call me that to someone new. They're bound to get confused." Hatori scolded quietly to the young boy. He looked at me and the same look of shock passed over his face.

"H-Hatori…Sohma?"


	2. For the Love of all That's Holy!

"H-Hatori…Sohma?" I just stared at my old friend in shock, It's impossible! There was no way I signed up to help Hatori!

After a moment, Hatori closes his mouth and calmly says, "It's been a while, my friend."

"Huh?" Momiji looked between us, still smiling. "You two know each other?"

I nodded once. "Yes, we were friends in High School."

"Cool!" Momiji interlocked his arm with mine. "I can't wait to get to know you better, Yukino!"

"Yukino…" Hatori mumbled softly, I could barely hear him. It was obvious though that he was just trying to remind himself of my name.

I smiled down at Momiji. "Thanks for bringing me to Hatori, Momiji, but I think I got it from here."

"Aw…but Yukino…!" Considering he was giving me the puppy face, the whining was kinda cute.

Hatori turned from me and grabbed a wallet, stuffing it into his back pocket. "It's okay, I have to run to the store for something anyway. You and Momiji can get to know each other a little better." He exited his house and said as he was walking away, "I'll show you your room later…Yukino."

I watched him walk away for a moment before following the young child inside. I removed my shoes and cautiously set my suitcase down. I have to admit that, by this point, I'm nervous as hell! I don't want Shigure or Ayame randomly appearing out of nowhere, I know they'd freak. (Especially Ayame, I never did get a chance to say goodbye to him.)

Momiji sat down at a Kotatsu in the middle of the room. "Come on, Yukino, sit down. Lets talk a little bit."

I laughed a bit and sat down at the Kotatsu across from him. "So, what'd you wanna talk about?"

"I wanna know how come you and Hari are friends, and he never mentioned you!"

I smiled just the slightest. Of course he wouldn't mention me, after all I didn't trust him when I said I did. "Well, back in High School, I had this **huge** secret and I never told Hatori, Shigure, or Ayame. When—"

"You're friends with Sensei and Ayame???"

"Yeah…" I hung my head. "Well, I was. Whenever they found out my secret, they freaked out. I didn't trust them with my secret and it turned them against me."

"Aw…"

I chuckled twice. "It's okay though. Maybe I can rekindle those old friendships now that I've returned."

"Yeah!" Momiji said a little too enthusiastically.

Honestly, I just wanna get through this so that I can become a real doctor in a hospital. I don't even care about rekindling these friendships. I broke that chance when I left.

"So, when'd Hatori go for the 'emo' hair style? I mean, it looks good on him but it's just strange." I wanted to get my mind off of where it was going. I had no idea of what was about to be told to me…

Momiji folded his hands in front of him on the wood of the Kotatsu. "A few years back, Hari met a girl named Kana. They were so much in love, they had plans to marry." He looked out of the nearby window, staring at the sky as if lost in some kind of dream…or nightmare. "Whenever Hari went to Akito – the head of our family – to ask for permission, he not only declined it but he also threw a vase at Hari. It hit him in his left eye, he's mostly blind because of it."

I just stared at Momiji in surprise. I had never imagined Hatori being affected so badly, after all he's the Sohma family doctor. I thought he was living life how he had wanted, not like this.

"So, what happened afterward, with their relationship, I mean?"

Momiji looked back at me, his hands were still folded in front of him. "Akito blamed Kana for Hari losing his sight in his left eye. She fell ill…she was bedridden most of the time. Hari felt horrible for that happening to her and decided to ask Akito what to do about it."

I gasped slightly. Why would you ask someone what to do in a relationship that person screwed up?! It doesn't make any sense!

"Akito told Hari just what to do… For some reason, he has this strange ability to wipe memories… Hari erased all of Kana's memories of their time spent together, even though he knew it would hurt him."

_Hatori…_ I hung my head again and I felt tears running down my face. It couldn't be…! Hatori's life…I had prayed for him everyday I was at the university to have a good life. Why was Hatori cursed with such misery?

Momiji leaned across the Kotatsu. "Yukino? What's wrong?"

I sniffed. "It's just that…I couldn't imagine having to go through that…" I wiped my eyes. "And Hatori was such a good friend of mine…I just can't imagine my friend having to deal with such torment."

Momiji smiled small. "Don't worry about Hari. He's happy that Kana is with someone she really loves."

I wiped my face dry and of the tears. "Yeah…"

The door opened. I looked back, but there was no one there. I looked back at Momiji; he looked just as confused as me.

"Is it possible that this house is haunted?" I asked, kinda scared.

"Um…N-Not that I know of…" Even though he said that, Momiji seemed just as scared.

Suddenly, a shadow flew across the Kotatsu and landed with stealth behind Momiji. The brown haired man turned around, flashing me a smile that I could never forget.

"Shigure?" I squeaked as I tried to control my heart rate. "You almost gave me a heart attack, you bastard!"

Shigure laughed innocently. "Now, now, Yukino, I didn't mean to. I thought you'd be glad to see your author friend."

"Author?" My ears perked up at that, I hadn't heard of Shigure writing anything.

He pulled a book out of the kimono he was wearing and tossed it at me. "I write these."

I caught the book and read the front. _Summer Colored Love_. Where had I heard this book title before…? "Oh my god! You're such a pervert!" I threw the book back at his head, it hit.

"You've read my book then?" Shigure asked happily as he rubbed the area that had reddened from where the book hit it.

"No, my roommate at the university did!" I shuddered. "I had no idea it was you who wrote it, you perv!"

"I'm not a perv!" Shigure said defensively.

"I beg to differ." Hatori said flatly as he walked back into the house empty handed.

I looked back at Hatori and eyed him suspiciously. "The store?"

"I ran into Shigure. When I told him you were back, he insisted on seeing you."

"Oh." I looked back at Shigure. "How've you been?"

"Great!" Shigure continued telling me about how wonderful his life's been going up until now while I just thought about Hatori.

I couldn't get over how sad his has been. I mean, even though Akito is the head of the Sohma family, he has no right to tell someone who they can or can't love!

"Shigure, Momiji, you should both leave." Hatori said suddenly, cutting off Shigure in the middle of saying something about some girl named Tohru Honda.

"What? Why?" Momiji started whining. "I wanna talk with Yukino more!"

I chuckled a few times and patted the little boy on the head. "it's okay. Hatori needs to show me where everything goes, and tell me how to treat certain people, I'm sure."

Hatori nodded once. "Yes, I do. Shigure, why don't you take Momiji with you back to your house? I'm sure he'd like to see Tohru."

Shigure nodded and snickered. "Okay then, you two play nice."

I blushed and threw an empty cup at the pervert's head as he left. "Shut up!"

Hatori sat down where Momiji had been sitting across from me at the Kotatsu once the door was shut. "I'll call the university later. Maybe they can send you somewhere else."

"Huh?" I just stared at Hatori. "What're you talking about?"

"I understand that if you stay here, it will be…awkward, to say the least. Granted, I had no idea that you were still in Japan, let alone the university, but I shouldn't have even signed up for this." He looked right past me and at my suitcase that was still sitting there. "You're still packed, so—"

"I don't care how 'awkward' you say this will be. I want to stay here, I want to become a doctor. Since you're a family doctor, it'll be easier for you to train me as opposed to being trained in a hospital." I said as-a-matter-of-factly. "I only need to be here for a couple of years, you can last that long. If not, I'll leave…but I don't want to."

Hatori smirked and chuckled once. "Fine, have it your way." He stood up and motioned at my bag. "Grab your bag, I'll show you your room."

I nodded and jumped up to grab my bag. The moment I turned around, the door opened behind me. I turned back around to make sure I wasn't going to be attacked, but all I saw was a pile of clothes.

"Weird…" I turned back around and started walking to where Hatori was standing with a serious look on his face. I smiled reassuringly to let him think I wasn't completely freaked out.

As Hatori showed me the room and began explaining just what time to be expected up and ready a felt something slithering up my back.

"Eek!!" I dropped my suitcase and started jumping around. "H-Hatori, there's something in my shirt!!"

I looked over my left shoulder when I felt it stopped there and saw a snake staring me in the face. I screamed as loud as humanly possible and threw the snake at the wall. "Oh my God, a snake!!!"

Hatori simply groaned even though I was beyond freaking out. I couldn't understand what he was mumbling as he walked over to the snake. As Hatori was bending over to pick it up, there was a poof of white smoke and suddenly a completely naked Ayame was laying where the snake was.

"Holy crap…she's got one hell of an arm…" Ayame chuckled.

I gasped and froze. Hatori did too; I could sense the unrest in the air suddenly shift to unease – though it's not much of a difference.

"Ayame, you should be more careful! She **had** no idea of the curse!" Hatori yelled at the halfway unconscious man as he threw a pillow over his cousin's waist.

"WHAT THE HELL IS HE?!?!" I yelled, completely freaked out.

Hatori faced me and sighed. "In the Sohma family there's a curse that turns us into the animals of the Chinese zodiac…"


End file.
